UO Wushu founder Daniel Wu has two new movies this fall – Tai Chi Zero/Tai Chi 0, which he helped produce, and The Man with the Iron Fists, where he plays a character named Poison Dagger.

Tai Chi Zero – the first of two movies from Daniel Wu and Stephen Fung’s studio, Diversion Pictures – follows Yang Lu Chan (Yuan Xiachao) on a journey to learn the secrets of Chen-style tai chi. It’s sillier and much more lighthearted than it sounds. The sequel, Tai Chi Hero, was released in China around the same time as Tai Chi Zero debuted in the U.S. (10/19).

The Man with the Iron Fists premieres today (11/2). The film is set in feudal China and stars a blacksmith (RZA) fighting to protect his village from various miscreants searching for treasure. Other stars include Lucy Liu, Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Byron Mann, Rick Yune, David Bautista, and Jamie Chung.

Members of UO Wushu really enjoyed Tai Chi Zero’s Portland premiere and are very excited to see The Man with the Iron Fists after tonight’s practice.

It’s been a busy term for UO Wushu so far with the annual Duck Preview Demo, visit to Summit Wushu, Thriller, and the addition of our wonderful new members – welcome to the team, ducklings! Thriller videos will be coming soon, but in the meantime here’s the video from Duck Preview:

What it is: The overall event is an open house for the Student Rec Center that runs from 3-5pm on 9/20, so it’s a great opportunity to learn more about the team and the Rec Center in general. We hope to see you there!

Date and Time: Thursday (9/20), 3-3:45pm

Where: Main stage (located in the three-court gymnasium)

We’ll also have a table set up, so feel free to stop by and grab one of our lovely flyers and/or chat with team members and this year’s captains.

In addition to Duck N2 the Rec, keep an eye out for flash demos around campus during Week of Welcome (9/20-9/22). Also, be sure to check back soon for:
– Updated practice times and location/s
– Club Sports Open House info
– Membership registration info (Org Sync)
– The coordinates for the portkey to Pallet Town

One last thing for all returning members: Welcome back! We hope you had a great summer and we wish the best in school, training, and accomplishing your dreams!!!

Heather Cameron, Michael Nilson, Kendall Lege, and Dana Macalanda represented Oregon and the Northwest Wushu Alliance this past Saturday (4/28) at the annual competition between various teams from universities around the country. All four were very proud to represent the Northwest and would like to congratulate the University of Virginia Wushu Club for putting together such an awesome tournament.

The club’s founder Daniel Wu will sit in on an hour of today’s practice before heading to the screening of his new film “Overheard 2″ at the Regal Valley River Center Stadium. Wu is visiting as a special guest of the annual Cinema Pacific Film Festival. Pictures and video will definitely follow the event, but for now here’s an article highlighting Wu’s visit in The Register-Guard and a 2007interview conducted by Brandon Sugiyama, another former member and coach who Wu trained.

UPDATE: A big thank you to Daniel for taking the time to visit us and. We really can’t thank you enough, and it was definitely an honor and inspiration to meet you. We’d also like to thank Henry Ho for sending us pictures of the practice.

Recently (4/6-4/8), the club was invited to help with Northwest Wushu and Seattle Wushu Center’s annual demo and seminar at Sakura-Con, an anime convention held in Seattle Washington. Northwest Wushu’s primary coach is Tian Yuan Li, a former China Champion who also did the motion capture for the characters Xianghua, Kilik, and Ivy in the Soul Calibur video games.

Brinna Keillor, Kenney Hersch, Paul Dargan, and Jessica Linder helped with the seminar on the following day (Saturday) and had some fun at the con afterwards.

Phil and his brother Peter, who also medaled in a number of his events, opened the doors to their new school in February. Summit Wushu Academy – based in Clackamas, Oregon – has hosted two seminars for current UO Wushu team members and alumni since opening, and the team is extremely grateful for the opportunity to train with them.

Videos of all UO competitors forms may be found on the YouTube channel (also linked to in the sidebar), and videos of non-UO friends may be found on Dana’s channel. Good job everyone, and onward to Collegiates!!!!!!!

Come check us out at Eugene’s annual Asian Celebration! The team will be performing on the main stage on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 6:05 pm.

Admission is $6 for adults and free for children 12 and under. See you there!

UPDATE: A big thank you to all those who came out and watched us, to Brittany Nakamoto for filming, and everyone who performed – especially our beginners Andy Kunis, Jessica Linder, and Alex Liang who demoed for the first time.